Introduction
This is the
DOOGEE Shoot 2.
Hardware
Following the Shoot series, this newer model, Shoot 2, is the little young brother of the Shoot 1, with the same design for the front, still two back cameras, but much less powerful and much more affordable. Something important to mention is that there are two variants of this device, 1GB/8GB and 2GB/16GB. I'm testing the 2GB variant. I don't see the point of getting the 1GB variant nowadays.
The device is powered by a Mediatek MT6580 SOC clocked at 1.30GHz, a bit outdated and slower compared to the MT6737T, together with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM, and a 5 inches HD screen.
Unboxing
Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Warranty Card, 1x TPU Cover and the Smartphone (of course). A plastic screen protector is pre-applied.
Talking about the dimensions, the device is pretty compact even though it feels a bit thick due to the big internal battery. It is 14.68x7.32x0.97cm, with medium bezels, and weights 178g. This extra weight is caused by the metal back cover.
As regards the design, it isn't bad at all. I don't appreciate the noticeable plastic bands of the back cover, but everything else looks just fine and without any imperfection. Unfortunately my package was slightly damaged so you may notice a crack near the speaker grill. Luckily everything else was not damaged.
On the front side there is the usual 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. Unfortunately there is no Notification LED.
On the lower front side there is the classic soft-keys zone, with Recents and Back buttons on the side, and a Fingerprint Scanner in the middle that also works as an Home Button. You can notice the hidden microphone somewhere between the recents button and the fingerprint scanner.
On the back side there is the removable back cover, but the battery isn't removable. The upper rear side of the device features the Dual Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED Flashlight, bigger than usual.
On the lower rear side there is only the DOOGEE string with some Certification Logos. The speaker is positioned on the lower side of the device.
Device
Screen
Just like the Shoot 1, also this one features a good screen, even better as regards brightness. Color Accuracy is good, the same for the White Balance. Considering the price target, this may be one of the best screens i have ever seen on a low-end device.
The Light Sensor supports partial light changes, with a sufficient auto-brightness management. This is its maximum brightness. Just Excellent.
Viewing Angles matches IPS screen capabilities, nothing to complain about.
Camera
Unfortunately, this is where the difference between the Shoot 2 and the Shoot 1 is noticeable. This device features a 5MP Rear Camera made by GalaxyCore, and quality, in my opinion, isn't superb for a camera-phone. I guess the software isn't 100% ready to handle this sensor, causing some image quality issues especially when it comes to low-light shots.
Photos taken outdoors do not look bad at all, and the 1.5x camera zoom seem to work decently well.
Just like most dual-camera devices i have reviewed, macros aren't the best. I guess this is a technical limit of the dual camera implementation.
The Single-LED Flashlight is barely sufficient to provide enough light, and as a result the camera wasn't able to focus at all.
As regards Video Recording, 1080p videos are recorded at 25fps, with a decent amount of details and no major stuttering.
Front Camera, somehow, manages to shot better photos in the same light conditions where the rear camera isn't able to get a photo as good as this one. Pretty interesting.
Audio
Speaker's Quality is decent, with the usual absence of low-frequencies and medium-high maximum volume with almost no distortion. I don't understand why the second speaker grill hasn't been used at all, considering that the microphone is on the front side.
As regards the Microphone, it seems to work pretty well, with an impressive clarity and balanced volume.
Something that requires to be fixed is the Earpiece. At least on my review unit, the volume is too low. I have to increase the volume to the maximum in order to hear the third-party. Luckily this can be easily fixed with an OTA Update.
GPS
The GPS is decent, with a sufficient amount of satellites outdoors, and the possibility to lock satellites even indoors.
Outdoors on the left, Indoors of the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
This device doesn't support 4G networks, so you have to use your old 3G HSPA+ (42MBps max) connection to use your Mobile Data plan.
Signal Reception is accurate, but 3G coverage is just perfect here where i live so that's something i would have expected. Just like what happens with other devices, 3G Network Speed is low, thanks to my crappy Mobile Network that has lower than average 3G performance.
WiFi 5GHz isn't supported here. With my 2.4GHz network, i was able to reach 38mbps, connected at 65mbps, one of the best results ever obtained on a low-end device.
Battery Life
As always, i measure the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity almost matches the declared value (declared 3360mAh, real ~3320mAh).
Unfortunately PCMark Battery Test crashes on this device, so i had to switch to Antutu Tester with its heavy battery benchmark. Maximum Brightness, everything enabled. Not too bad.
As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger isn't the fastest when it comes to recharge a 3360mAh battery, but this is a software limit, so even if you use a better charger, it won't charge faster. More than 3 hours required to full charge.
Software
Following the Shoot 1 also this one comes with a completely clean Android OS, and most important, based on Nougat 7.0. Something rare to find with MT6580 devices, such an old chipset with such a new Android Version, something that i would have never expected from Mediatek. There are some pre-installed apps that can't be disabled without any issue, so don't worry about bloatware.
All Mediatek features are still there such as Gestures, Scheduled Power On/Off, etc…
No Malwares Detected using MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, unlike what happened with the Shoot 1.
Again, i'm using the 2GB variant, and after using it for a long while, i can say that it is smooth enough for daily tasks. I doubt that the 1GB variant will be as smooth as this one, due to RAM issues.